Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Factory 617 has a huge area, not only with various workshops and buildings, but also with a dedicated tank test track. When a tank rolls off the production line, it must first undergo various tests on the test track before being delivered to the army.

Years of testing have left the ground here pitted and barren, the soil thoroughly compacted by the tracks. At this moment, a biting north wind blows, and the entire test track is filled with swirling dust.

Within this dust, the roars of engines can be heard.

A grass-green tank appears on the test track, its engine belching plumes of black smoke. The tracks clatter and clang, rhythmically striking the road wheels. Two people, wearing tank helmets and goggles, are visible from the waist up in the round turret, experiencing this feeling of reckless abandon.

In reality, the maximum speed of this tank is only fifty kilometers per hour, but the roaring engine, the bumpy ride, and the oncoming wind and sand create a sense of wildness, freedom, and unrestrainedness, even causing the soul to soar.

"My friend, how do you feel?" Qin Yang shouted loudly to Alwaleed, who was beside him.

"Fantastic! The off-road capability of this tank impresses me! It's much better than the T-54 tank!"

"By the way, in front of you is a heavy machine gun. Would you like to try it out?"

"Can I? That would be great!" Alwaleed's hand moved the machine gun, aiming it at a distant target. As he pressed the firing button, the ammunition belt began to rattle, and bright yellow bullets entered the chamber. With a series of 'thump, thump, thump' sounds, flames erupted from the muzzle, and the bullets rained down on the distant target.

Hitting the target was impossible, but experiencing the feeling of firing a 12.7mm heavy machine gun horizontally from a speeding tank was simply exhilarating!

Alwaleed was completely satisfied with the tank.

"Qin, after we get off, we will immediately sign the agreement! I hope the military factory will start producing tanks immediately!"

At half a million US dollars per tank, the price of a sports car, buying a tank is certainly a bargain. For wealthy clients, when they see something they like, they want to buy it immediately.

After getting off the tank and returning to the conference room, Alwaleed immediately signed the purchase agreement on behalf of Abdullah.

"According to international practice, I will first pay a 20% deposit, which is ten million US dollars," Alwaleed said. "How do you plan to receive this money?"

Everyone present stared blankly. They had never done international trade before! How should they handle a foreign customer buying something?

Wang Lin looked at Qin Yang for help.

"My friend, do you have a check? Just write one!" Qin Yang said simply.

"Of course, I have a check from HSBC Bank with more than twenty million in it..." Alwaleed said, taking out a long checkbook and writing fluent and beautiful English on it, then signing and stamping it in one go.

The people around were dumbfounded.

They had seen checks before. In this era, large cash transactions were inconvenient, and banks also had check services. However, they had never seen this kind of colorful check with foreign writing on it!

After Alwaleed finished writing, Qin Yang took it over, glanced at it, and nodded, saying, "The check is fine. It can be cashed at HSBC Bank in Hong Kong within a week."

What? Have to go to Hong Kong?

Wang Lin took the check and hesitated, saying, "Engineer Qin, now that you're here in the prairie, why not stay for a few more days?"

"Stay? If it were summer, horseback riding and hunting would be nice, but there's nothing to do here now. We still have many places to go. First, we'll take a look at our H-6 bomber, then the Type 63 armored personnel carrier. There are still many places to go."

Wang Lin glanced at Alwaleed, his throat bobbing a few times, and continued, "Engineer Qin, we have to cash the check. None of us have seen one before, and we don't know if it's..."

Who knows if it's a bad check? What if it can't be cashed?

Qin Yang smiled. "You're too cautious. You don't even trust the strength of my friend. His pocket money for a year is more than this batch of tanks. However, I can't blame you. After all, you don't have much experience. You can go to the capital and give the check to the higher authorities, and ask them to arrange for bank personnel and foreign affairs personnel to go to Hong Kong to remit the money."

"Yes, that's a good idea. I'll send someone to do it immediately. No, I'll go myself," Wang Lin said.

Wang Lin was, of course, uneasy. He had to handle this matter himself. That day, he boarded the train to the capital to report to his superiors and coordinate the check matter.

"What? The client placed an order for a hundred tanks from your factory? Great! Your factory will finally get some meat!" Upon hearing Wang Lin's report, Director Fang immediately became excited.

"Thanks to Engineer Qin. If it weren't for his effective promotion, it would have been impossible for the client to pay the deposit immediately. These hundred are just the initial order. After they conduct a formal inspection, they will place more orders, conservatively estimated at thousands," Wang Lin said.

"Good, if you can export thousands of tanks, then we won't have to worry about it anymore. You have also embarked on a path of market economy!" Director Fang was very happy. "In the future, don't submit any more appropriation reports!"

"Director Fang, this check needs to be cashed in Hong Kong. We don't have the experience. We request the higher authorities to coordinate."

"No problem." Director Fang thought for a moment. "Old Pan from the Foreign Affairs Department doesn't have much work to do recently. Let him go with the bank personnel. What about you? Are you going too?"

"I won't. Next, I have to organize production and consider improvements. There's a lot of work to do!"

Half an hour later, Director Pan came running over, beaming.

Ever since he was rejected by Qin Yang last time, Director Pan had been very depressed. This time, seeing the director of Factory 617 beside him and hearing Director Fang introduce the work, Director Pan finally turned from cloudy to clear.

"Of course, I have to take on this important task. Please rest assured, comrades of Factory 617, I will definitely do this job well." Director Pan immediately puffed out his chest. "I went there once last year. I have experience!"

"Old Pan, Engineer Qin also secured this job, so don't worry about those unpleasant things from the past," Director Fang said.

Director Pan's face changed. "Old Fang, what do you mean by that? Am I, Old Pan, that kind of person? It's all for the country, for the development of the military industry. How could I possibly hold a grudge! I've long forgotten about what happened last time!"

Director Fang smiled. In fact, it didn't matter who was given this job. Giving it to Director Pan was just to smooth things over and resolve the conflict between him and Qin Yang.

Now that Director Pan can go to Hong Kong for a trip, it should balance out his feelings, right?

Director Pan took the check and embarked on the road south.